Second Lieutenant Samoilov quickly brought in the German radio operator. To be precise, he was dragged in by two soldiers. When the soldiers placed the bruised radio operator in front of the radio, Sidorin asked a little worriedly: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, he is like this, can he still send the radio?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Samoilov quickly replied: "His hand is not injured, there should be no problem sending the report."
Hearing that the telegraph operator could send the message normally, Sidorin handed over the drafted message and told Samoylov: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, ask him to send this message."
Samoilov took the telegram from Sidorin's hand and slapped it in front of the German telegraph operator, making the other party tremble. He said viciously: "Send this telegram immediately. I'm warning you, don't play any tricks."
The German radio operator did not speak, but nodded in panic, then lowered his head to read the message in front of him. Sidorin winked at a radio operator, who immediately came over and sat opposite the German radio operator. He picked up a pair of headphones and put them on his head, preparing to monitor the other party's transmission to see if he was there. Manipulation in the process of sending the report.
Sokov stared at the German radio operator who was preparing, and thought to himself: It seems that the interrogation methods of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are really well-deserved, and even such well-trained German agents have no choice but to obey. If it were him, he might have given up in less than two minutes, and then he would have confessed whatever the other party asked him to.
As an agent, the German military telegraph operator received special training. Not only could he speak fluent Russian, he could also read and read newspapers, not to mention a simple message. After he read the contents of the telegram, he immediately put his finger on the key and started sending the telegram.
The telegram was quickly sent. The communications soldier sitting opposite the German telegraph operator took off his earphones and nodded to Sokov, indicating that there was nothing wrong with the telegram just sent.
Now that the telegram has been sent, it’s time to wait for the other party’s call back. Sokov turned to Belkin and asked: "Comrade Comrade Political Commissar, do you have a cigarette?"
"Yes," Belkin took out a pack of confiscated German cigarettes from his pocket and said apologetically to Sokov, "but they only have German cigarettes. I don't know if you are used to them."
The taste of German cigarettes is different from that of Soviet cigarettes. Many people are not used to smoking them and feel that they smell like horse manure. Even a long-time smoker like Belgin would not smoke German cigarettes unless he really had no cigarettes. Sokov took the cigarette case, walked to the operator, and handed the cigarette over: "Let's have a cigarette!"
When the operator saw Sokov offering him a cigarette, he instinctively wanted to refuse. But when Sokov said it was a German cigarette, he reached out to take out a cigarette from the cigarette case and put it in his mouth. Sokov put the cigarette case aside, lit a match and lit the operator's cigarette.
After the operator took a puff of cigarette, he looked up at Sokov standing in front of him: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, what are you going to do with me? After receiving the call back, will you order me to be dragged out and shot?"
"Don't worry," Sokov raised his hand and patted his shoulder, comforting him and said, "Since you cooperate with us so much, we will also treat the prisoners preferentially. When everything is over, I will send someone to send you to the prisoner of war camp. , give a prisoner of war the treatment he deserves. But..."
Sokov only said half of what he said, which aroused the great curiosity of the operator. He asked nervously: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, but what?"
"But if you are willing to surrender to our army, I can not send you to a prisoner of war camp, but stay in my army." After saying this, Sokov shrugged: "You also know that now During the war, the conditions in the prisoner-of-war camps may not be very good, and whether you can survive until the end of the war is unknown."
…………
The German unit responsible for attacking Mamayev Heights was the 295th Infantry Division commanded by Major General Otto Kofis. Kofis was in his headquarters, studying with several of his subordinates how to attack Mamayev Heights. Suddenly, a staff officer hurried in and handed him a telegram he had just received.
Kofis took the telegram, read the contents clearly, and asked, "Who sent this telegram?"
"It's a special operations team we sent near Mamayev Heights," the staff officer obviously knew a lot of inside information, so he could answer Kofis's question: "They gave the Russians a false order and successfully made the people who stayed in Mamayev The defenders of the southern post of Mayev Gang retreated.”
After waving the staff to leave, Kofis handed the telegram to the division chief of staff and said at the same time: "Chief of Staff, here is a telegram just sent back by the special operations team. Take a look and share your views."
The division chief of staff took the telegram from Kofis. After reading the contents, he looked at Kofis and said: "Your Excellency, division commander, the Russians have retreated from the southern part of the Mamayev Hills. Do you think this is possible? ?”
Regarding the division chief of staff's question, Kofis said in an uncertain tone: "This special operations team was sent by the Army Headquarters. I believe their report is true. However, to be on the safe side, we still sent people to verify it. Just a moment." After saying that, he ordered a regiment commander sitting at the conference table, "Colonel, I just received a telegram from the special operations team, saying that they were sending a telegram to the Russian troops who were holding the southern post of Mamaev Gang. people, issued a false withdrawal order. Judging from the message they sent, the Russians seem to have been fooled and are withdrawing from the Nangang position. You immediately call the forward observation post of your regiment and let them take a look. Are the Russians retreating?”
"Understood, Your Excellency, Division Commander." The regiment commander named by him said respectfully: "I will call the regiment headquarters immediately and ask them to report the situation there."
The German colonel went out to call his regiment headquarters. Less than ten minutes later, he returned to the conference room and reported to Kofis with excitement: "Your Excellency, division commander, good news, good news!"
"What good news?!" When Kofis heard what the colonel said, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated. He asked nervously: "Did the Russians really retreat?"
"Yes, your Excellency, division commander." The colonel nodded and said, "When I called back to the regiment, the regiment chief of staff had just received a report from the forward observation post, saying that the Russians deployed in front of Nangang had withdrawn from their defensive positions. .”
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, I didn't expect that the Russians really retreated." Seeing that the intelligence sent by the special operations team was confirmed, the division chief of staff said with excitement: "This is a rare and good opportunity. We should send troops immediately. Go and capture the southern hill of Mamayev Hill. In this way, we will divide the Russian garrison in Stalingrad into two parts that are not connected to each other, and we can also launch attacks on the port and the central railway station at any time."
"Yes, your Excellency, division commander, the chief of staff is right." As soon as the colonel waited for the division chief of staff to finish speaking, he immediately asked for help: "Our regiment is closest to Nangang, please let us occupy it."
Regarding the colonel's request, Kofis agreed without hesitation: "Yes, colonel. You immediately send a battalion to occupy the south hill of Mamayev Hill and build fortifications on it to prepare for the Russian counterattack. "
"What, only send one battalion?" Whether it was the division chief of staff or the colonel, when they heard Kofis say this, they couldn't help but be stunned: "Is the strength of one battalion too small?"
"That's quite a lot." Kofis waved his hand and said, "We have more than 800 people in one battalion. As long as they occupy Nangang, even if the Russians send out two regiments, they may not be able to take back the high ground." After finishing speaking, After these words, he paused for a moment and then ordered the division chief of staff, "Immediately send a report to the special operations team, saying that our army will enter the Nangang position at 11 o'clock tonight, so that they can be prepared to respond."
…………
Sokov saw the reply and knew that the Germans had taken the bait, so he ordered Samoilov to take the operator down. After passing the telegram to Belkin and Sidorin for circulation, he said: "The Germans will send a battalion of troops to enter the Nangang position at 11 o'clock tonight. In addition, they also asked the special operations team that we defeated to Send someone to pick them up.”
"Cunning enemy." After seeing the telegram, Sidorin said angrily: "We prepared such a large piece of bait, but they only came with one battalion."
But Belkin was thinking about other issues: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the surface area of Nangang position is limited, and more troops cannot be deployed. One enemy battalion has more than 800 people. Use such a force to occupy the Nangang position. , is more than enough. Comrade Brigade Commander, I am worried about another issue now."
"what is the problem?"
"The enemy asked people from the special operations team to pick them up." Belkin frowned and said, "But we killed five of the seven agents. The two who were alive and one of the radio operators were covered in bruises and had trouble even walking. , and the other one is stubborn and refuses to cooperate with us. Who should we find to pretend to be a special operations team person to lure the Germans into taking the bait?"
"Comrade Commissar," Sokov asked, "do you know where Corporal Ernst is?"
"Corporal Ernst?" When he heard the name, Belkin hesitated for a moment, and then a look of surprise appeared on his face: "Are you talking about the German corporal who surrendered to our army?"
"Yes, that's him." Sokov asked again: "Where is he?"
"Served as squad leader of the fourth company of the second battalion of Lieutenant Grisa." After Belkin revealed Ernst's whereabouts, he said before Sokov's instructions: "I'll call him right now. "
While Belkin was on the phone, Sokov said to Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, find two more soldiers who speak German well and ask them to act with Ernst. If something unexpected happens, they will Ernst’s safety must be ensured. Do you understand?”
"Comrade Brigadier, leave this matter to me." Sidorin assured Sokov: "I will not let you down."
